CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: THREAT

"That’s not the answer I was hoping to hear," Lu Hongming said calmly.

"Then I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed."

"Have you ever thought about the people of this city? If the order of Celestial City falls into chaos, countless people will..."

Before Lu Hongming could finish, Sun Hang interrupted him once again, "Moral blackmail doesn’t work on me. If you had really thought about the people of this city, you wouldn’t have planned such an event... or rather, there shouldn’t have been so many ’cogs’ participating in such an event."

Sun Hang paused for a moment and said in a near-mocking tone, "Is it really worth taking such a big risk just to add a trivial line to your résumé?"

"No one could have predicted such a thing would happen, and no one wanted it to," Lu Hongming frowned slightly, "but it has happened... As a Mysterious Creature Hunter, as a guardian on the front line of human civilization, you should..."

"As a Mysterious Creature Hunter, as a guardian on the front line of human civilization, I should strictly follow orders—await instructions on the spot," Sun Hang said word by word.

"This behavior is neglect of duty!" Lu Hongming’s tone became serious in an instant, "Yang Qi will soon be dismissed, and we will appoint a more competent direct supervisor for you."

"But before Yang Qi is dismissed, I will only follow her orders," Sun Hang raised an eyebrow, "Besides, may I take it as a threat?"

"This is not a threat, I’m merely stating a fact," Lu Hongming said.

"Then, don’t you think it’s actually quite dangerous to be so close to a Mysterious Creature Hunter?" Sun Hang said nonchalantly.

With a "swish," the soldier sitting next to Sun Hang immediately gripped his weapon tightly, while Lu Hongming also sat up slightly straighter, exhaled slowly, and asked in a deep voice, "Are you threatening me?"

"This is not a threat, I’m merely stating a fact," Sun Hang returned the words he just heard back to him.

The soldier instinctively wanted to raise his weapon at Sun Hang, but somehow, dense white mycelium had already spread throughout the entire carriage. These threads climbed from under the seats, creeping over the soldier’s knees and climbed along his wrist to his fingertips, tightly binding his index finger to the trigger guard.

Not only this soldier but even the driver and the lower half of Lu Hongming’s body were already covered by the white mycelium.

"Don’t move." Sun Hang softly reminded, "If you fight it with brute force, the mycelium might break your skin... I can’t guarantee you won’t get infected with the Deceit Virus."

The soldier’s face turned pale, a hint of struggle flashed in his eyes.

"Sun Hang! Do you know what you’re doing? You are attacking a member of the Celestial City Management Committee!! Do you understand the consequences of doing this? No one can protect you! Your Hunter qualification will be revoked, you’ll be regarded as deceit..."

The mycelium on Lu Hongming’s body crawled up a few inches, causing the word "creature" after "deceit" to get stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken out.

"I will be regarded as a deceit creature, is that it?"

"Sun Hang, I can give you one last chance, stop now, head to the southern cemetery to participate in the search and rescue mission, and I won’t pursue this matter further..."

"Mr. Lu, you should know the characteristics of the ’blood moon’, right?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Actually, it wasn’t just ’Night Slayer’ who was affected by the blood moon; I was affected too, just not as obviously... Since I came out of that anomalous zone, I’ve been feeling very irritable, easily angered, and full of aggression... As everyone knows, Mysterious Creature Hunters and deceit creatures are essentially no different; they are all very dangerous things." Sun Hang said slowly.

"You..."

"Mr. Lu, you really should be grateful to Ms. Yang Qi’s decision, if it weren’t for her letting me withdraw from the mission area promptly... Suppose I stayed under the blood moon for another half hour, where do you think this piece of mycelium, which is three centimeters away from your heart, would be right now?"

Sun Hang paused for a moment and continued, "If attacking a Management Committee member would make me be regarded as a deceit creature on the wanted list, then allowing me to carry out a mission exposed to the blood moon for a long time... it’s not just ’regarded as’, I might actually become a deceit creature."

After saying this, the white mycelium suddenly receded like a tide, but the three people in the car apart from him still maintained their previous positions, completely not daring to move, not even daring to take a deep breath.

"Don’t be nervous, thanks to Ms. Yang Qi’s wise decision, I still maintain my sanity. Just now, I only demonstrated to Mr. Lu the potentially disastrous outcomes if a Mysterious Creature Hunter went out of control... Mr. Lu, you weren’t scared, were you? I would certainly be very sorry if I accidentally frightened you..." Sun Hang said with an apologetic expression.

"I... I wasn’t scared." Lu Hongming lifted his hand, took a deep breath.

"Then how do you think this matter should be handled now."

"Perhaps, Yang Qi’s perspective is correct... I’m just saying perhaps." Lu Hongming said somewhat reluctantly, "The committee will discuss the specific solution further. Additionally, I hope that once the blood moon disappears, you’ll head to the anomalous area as soon as possible... I must emphasize again, every one of those missing people is very important to Celestial City."

"Alright." Sun Hang nodded, but simultaneously, he entered Lu Hongming’s name into the search bar on his device, "Mr. Lu, I heard your wife works at an educational institution, and you have a son and a daughter..."

"Wha... what do you mean by that?!" For the first time since meeting Sun Hang, Lu Hongming’s expression showed a lapse in composure, "I’ve already allowed you to stay on hold, so what are you trying to do by mentioning this?!"

"Please don’t overthink it. I just want to remind you that in last night’s search and rescue operation, more than twenty investigators and sheriffs sacrificed their lives, most of whom also had wives and children... I hope you take good care of the families of the fallen, ensuring their lives are well-supported, which is far more important than any flower-laying ceremony."

Sun Hang pushed open the car door, and before leaving, he threw down one last remark: "You told me that Mysterious Creature Hunters are guardians on the front line of human civilization... but aren’t they also just standing on the front lines, using their flesh and blood to fight against deceit creatures?"